Computer systems typically comprise short-term memory and long-term memory. Short-term memory typically uses dynamic RAM, which typically provides quick access to data stored within the RAM. Long-term memory, such as that provided by a hard disk, provides relatively slow access to stored data, but normally retains the data even after power has been turned off. Accordingly, computers use data stored in short-term memory to manipulate and process the data, and use long-term memory to store the data when the data is not being processed.
Users (including various computer processes) typically save the data to disk when finished working with the program and data. Also, users load the stored data from the disk to short-term memory so that the data can be viewed and/or manipulated. However, as the amount of data becomes more voluminous and complex, these operations can require considerable amounts of time to save and to load.